Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen
Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen is the second of three plays performed by the Cornerstone Thespian Society that Mustache Maniacs Film Co. released as a film. It follows Roger Goodman's pursuit for Sarah Huffington's hand in marriage and was produced by special arrangement by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc.; Englewood, Co. Film Details * Release Date: June 1, 2006 (Play); December 13, 2006 (DVD); June 17, 2016 (Re-Release) * Running Time: 90 min. * MPAA Rating: PG * Director: Valoris Peterson * Producer: Teresa Bermudez * Writer: Craig Sodaro Plot Summary The play opens with a crusty old pirate, who steps out onto a pier and tells the audience that, before he sets out on his last voyage, he has a wild tale to tell from year's past. He begins his tale in haste, as a storm is brewing out in the bay. It is the year 1792, and the wealthy American aristocrat Roger Goodman is practicing his proposal to Sarah Huffington with his butler George. Soon, Sarah and her friends arrive in the garden and Roger and George hide so that they can eavesdrop on their conversation. Sarah and her two friends Kate and Belinda enter the scene, telling jokes to one another. The conversation quickly switches to Roger Goodman, whom Kate and Belinda affectionately talk about. Sarah, on the other hand, is not that interested in Roger and reveals that she would rather marry a pirate. She shows them a wanted poster for pirate Bluebeard, and the other girls recoil in horror. Sarah's father, Lord Hector Huffington, enters the scene, demanding to see the wanted poster. She give him the poster, and he walks off. Sarah mopes about her life as an aristocrat and leads the girls off to find a pirate. As they walk off, Kate and Belinda comment about how her romanticizing about the stories of pirates and exploration she reads have gotten to her head. Roger, devastated, demands that he'll still do anything for Sarah's hand in marriage, so George suggests that he becomes a pirate himself. Reconvening the next day at the local harbor, George shows off the crew that he has found for Roger. They are an unimpressive lot of thieves and bums, with one thinking that he's a parrot, but Roger does find some use in their few skills. Just then, Roger's pirate tutor, Long John Sliver, saunters on-board the ship, ready to transform Roger into a pirate. Before he does that, he tells Roger about a deal that George had struck up to hire Long John: if Long John makes Roger into a pirate, they will set sail for Treasure Island to recover Long John's secret stash of treasure he hid ten ten years before. Long John doesn't have hope in the aristocratic Roger, but he does his work, first by re-christening the S.S. Petunia as the Sea Serpent, then by replacing the ship's flag with skull and crossbones-patterned boxer shorts. However, when it comes to giving Roger a new name, the crew argues among themselves until Long John settles on Captain Blood. The crew is then ready to set sail. Months late aboard the British Schooner S.S. Sultana, it is revealed that Sarah and her crew of lady pirates, not hesitant about the pirate life, have taken over the ship and have the ship's former captain, Captain Belvedere, prisoner. Laverne, one of the crew members, pulls Belvedere on deck for questioning by Sarah, who has re-named herself Captain Huffenpuff, the Pirate Queen. She soon arrives, and asks Belvedere where Bluebeard is. He responds that he saw him living on Treasure Island and gives directions to the island. Done with the former captain, Sarah forces Belvedere into the water. However, the animals in the water that he assumed were sharks turn out to actually be dolphins. A month later on Treasure Island, Bluebeard and his crew, enjoying their retirement, relax on the beach while poet Dandy and artist Smudge spin tall tales and fantastic portraits to give the impression that their captain is the terror of the high seas. However, they run for their tree house when they see the Sea Serpent drop anchor just off-shore. Roger and his crew step on-shore, happy to be on dry land, but Sneak discovers that there are others on the island. They have no time to handle this revelation, however, as another ship anchors off-shore. Roger and his crew hide in the trees, ready to ambush the ships' crew. The crew consists of Lord Huffington and his wife Lady Emma Huffington, who are in pursuit of Bluebeard. Before they can settle down, Roger and his crew ambush them, taking them prisoner. To lure Sarah to the island, Roger writes a message on the back of Smudge's painting that tells her that he has her parents prisoner. Unbeknownst to them, Dandy overhears. Over the next week, Hector is forced to dig up the island, looking for the lost treasure, while Emma keeps the crew fed with her cookies. As they move on, Bluebeard's crew gets excited about the prospect of treasure on the island, and plan to take it from them once they've found it. Dandy mentions Roger's ploy to get Sarah to the island, then they head off to spy on Hector. Sarah and her crew arrive on the island, looking for Bluebeard and her parents. All they have in their cargo is a chest containing the manuscript for Moby Dick, but Long John ambushes the crew. He engages in a sword fight with Sarah, but she gets the upper hand. She holds him prisoner, demanding to know the location of Treasure Island. Long John, assuming that they are after his treasure, mis-leads them to an island that is shaped like an elephant, just north of a rocky spire. She releases him, and her crew sails off. Once Hector comes back on-stage, Long John demands that he digs more, saying that he needs to worry about the Pirate Queen. Hector scoffs at the prospect of a lady pirate, but he is cut off by his wife, who tells him to dig more. About a week later, Bluebeard and his crew look at the dug-up condition of the island, saying that the treasure isn't real. They then plan to drive Roger's crew off the island for good. First, Bluebeard shouts "Treasure" for the whole island to hear, then his crew hides in the bushes. Roger and his crew show up on the beach, looking for the treasure, but then Bluebeard and his crew attack. It looks like Roger's crew will have the upper hand, but then Kiki, Miki, and Creaky show up with the coconut cannon, scaring Roger's crew into a cave. Bluebeard and his crew celebrate their victory. Inside the cave, Roger and his crew, completely cornered and out of luck, make plans to explore the cave for an alternate passage to the Sea Serpent, but in this searching, Parrot discovers a skeleton presiding over Long John's treasure. Long John celebrates the discovery, but discontent raises about the cannon. They make plans to trick Bluebeard. Thinking that Roger and his crew are gone for good, Bluebeard and his crew celebrate the return of peace to their island. However, Emma catches them off-guard with a plate of cookies. They eat the cookies, and immediately fall asleep. It turns out that the cookies were laced with a sleeping potion made with a native orchid. Roger and his crew come out onto the beach to move away the bodies, but before they can do that, Long John betrays them all, forcing them to move the sleeping pirates into the cave and telling them that all of the treasure is his. As they leave, Sarah and her crew return, after realizing that they had been tricked. Seeing the footprints leading into the jungle, they follow them to the cave. Now being chased around the island, Roger and his crew flee Long John and his wrath. On top of that, Roger finds out that Sneak, Snaggle, and Snoot accidentally beached the Sea Serpent, leaving them without a ship. Just then, they hear Sarah and her crew arrive, so they hide. Sarah and her crew show up, talking about the treasure they found in the cave. Roger and his crew ambush them, and they engage in a sword fight. After some time, Roger and Sarah realize who they each are and declare a truce. Roger proposes and Sarah agrees to marriage. However, Long John arrives again, threatening to shoot them all so that he can have his treasure. Having woken up, Bluebeard, Dandy, and Smudge also end up at gunpoint. However, Kiki, Miki, and Creaky show up with the coconut cannon again and drive Long John off. Everyone celebrates, but Captain Belvedere shows up, putting everyone under arrest for piracy. Emma uses one of her cookies to put him to sleep, and everyone celebrates the upcoming marriage of Roger and Sarah. Roger's and Sarah's crews leave the island, while Hector and Emma decide to stay on the island. Long John tries one last attempt to get his treasure, but he eats one of Emma's cookies, going to sleep. Bluebeard uses Belvedere's hat to signal the British ship to retreat, and Bluebeard calls for more Maui Mauis. We return to the dock where The Old Pirate has finished his tale. He subtlety hints that he is actually Roger Goodman, and calls his ship to get ready to make sail. He calls the audience to head ashore before he departs, and laughs under a roll of thunder as he departs for his ship. Production History In 2004, the script for Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen ''was released through Pioneer Drama Service as a play that could be performed. The script was written by Craig Sodaro. Early in 2006, the Cornerstone Thespian Society announced that ''Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen would be their next play, with Mustache Maniacs Film Co. releasing the play on DVD later that year. Rehearsing the play went about the same process as the other two plays: after auditions, students were given parts, then rehearsed them throughout the spring. For this version, The Old Pirate was added at the beginning and ending to create tonal bookends for the play, and Roger and Sarah's reconciliation on Treasure Island was re-written to be more romantic. One major change for this production, however, were the sets. While Kilroy Was Here! used one set, a previous production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had overdrawn set changes that necessitated the presence of two intermissions. Wanting to avoid that same issue, set pieces were designed to be both mobile and multi-purpose (the cave walls had the Treasure Island backdrop on the reverse side, for example). The play was performed June 1-3, 2006 to full houses, selling out at every performance. Later that same year, the DVD was released with just the performance. When the film was re-edited in 2015 for HD conversion, more was added to each disc, including Spotlight Night and Late for the Soccer Match. With this re-edit, the film was re-released online on June 17, 2016 for the play's tenth anniversary. Audience Reception For the play, the audience was very enthusiastic and received the play very well. This carried over to the initial DVD release. However, for the online re-release, the film failed to initially find an audience. Yet there is hope that people who are planning on staging their own version of Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen will seek out the film. Mistakes * Continuity Error: When the S.S. Petunia is moored in at dock, the mooring lines are stowed away on the railing. However, when the scene changes to the S.S. Sultana, the mooring lines are strung off, like they are attached to a dock. Characters * Roger Goodman (Daniel O'Kelley; Steve Marlowe) * George (Tyler Shefton; Justin DeSeve) * Sarah Huffington (Samantha Dorosh; Jessie Peterson) * Lord Hector Huffington (Daniel Ellis; Seth Axen) * Lady Emma Huffington (Alyssia Whitley; Karina Marlowe) * Kate (Lindsay Van Lake; Christina Marlowe) * Belinda (Shannon O'Kelley; Elena McCauley) * Long John Sliver (Michael Monroe; Connor Loveall) * Claudia (Marissia Miano; Megan McCauley) * Maude (Stephanie Van Lake; Gabriella Iacovetti) * Parrot (Richard Dinsmoor) * Sneak (Eric Masterson; Brandon Maddux) * Snaggle (Gabriella Noa; Brandon Davis) * Snoot (Adam Shefton; Andrew Walter) * Laverne (Sarah Haller; Lauren Isbell) * Shirley (Rachel Ellis) * Lucy (Jessica Hawley) * Ethel (Adela-Maria Pagan-Silberman) * Captain Belvedere (Brian Thompson) * Bluebeard (Michael O'Kelley; Andrew Johnson) * Dandy (Daniel Bermudez; Andrew Bermudez) * Smudge (Adam Kirk; Brianna Davis) * Kiki (Alyson Luthi; Sabrina Lewis) * Miki (Breanna Whitley; Felicia Nau) * Creaky (Kyle Monroe; Jeremy Babcock) * The Old Pirate (Andrew Bermudez; Michael Monroe) * Koo Koo Macaw (Teresa Bermudez) Locations * Huffington Manor * Treasure Island Credits * Valoris Peterson - Director * Laura Van Lake - Assistant Director * Teresa Bermudez - Producer; Stage Manager; Editor; Cameraman; Actor * Michelle Dorosh - Assistant Stage Manager * Tiana - Costuming * Cameron Smith - Technical Director * Al Bermudez - Set Construction * Daniel O'Kelley - Actor * Steve Marlowe - Actor * Tyler Shefton - Actor * Justin DeSeve - Actor * Samantha Dorosh - Actor * Jessie Peterson - Actor * Daniel Ellis - Actor * Seth Axen - Actor * Alyssia Whitley - Actor * Karina Marlowe - Actor * Lindsay Van Lake - Actor * Christina Marlowe - Actor * Shannon O'Kelley - Actor * Elena McCauley - Actor * Michael Monroe - Actor * Connor Loveall - Actor; Fight Choreographer * Marissia Miano - Actor * Megan McCauley - Actor * Stephanie Van Lake - Actor * Gabriella Iacovetti - Actor * Richard Dinsmoor - Actor * Eric Masterson - Actor * Brandon Maddux - Actor * Gabriella Noa - Actor * Brandon Davis - Actor * Adam Shefton - Actor * Andrew Walter - Actor * Sarah Haller - Actor * Lauren Isbell - Actor * Rachel Ellis - Actor * Jessica Hawley - Actor * Adela-Maria Pagan-Silberman - Actor * Brian Thompson - Actor * Michael O'Kelley - Actor * Andrew Johnson - Actor * Daniel Bermudez - Actor; Cameraman * Andrew Bermudez - Actor; Editor * Adam Kirk - Actor * Brianna Davis - Actor * Alyson Luthi - Actor * Sabrina Lewis - Actor * Breanna Whitley - Actor * Felicia Nau - Actor * Kyle Monroe - Actor * Jeremy Babcock - Actor Tropes Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen contains examples of the following tropes. * Above Good and Evil: The character of Long John Sliver. He doesn't care about what's right or wrong in Roger Goodman's relationship, just so long as he gets his treasure. * Amazon Brigade: Sarah Huffington's crew is entirely composed entirely of women capable of seizing the S.S. Sultana for their own benefit. * Book-Ends: The Old Pirate scenes at the beginning and end turn the story into a tale as told by this character, who turns out to be old Roger Goodman. * Deadpan Snarker: The character of George. Despite his lower-ranking butler role, he is far more intelligent than his master, Roger Goodman, often making fun of him in subtle ways. * Dressed to Plunder: When Roger Goodman, George, Sarah Huffington, Kate, and Belinda all turn to the life of piracy, they redress to match the part. Also, after Lady Emma Huffington is captured, she begins to wear a tricorn hat adorned with flowers. * Eyepatch of Power: Only one is ever seen in the film: it's worn by The Old Pirate, who appears at the beginning and end of the film. * Friendly, Playful Dolphin: What Captain Belvedere thinks are sharks are actually harmless dolphins. * Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Long John's treasure is nine chests of gold doubloons. * Long John Shoutout: The film's main villain is named Long John Sliver. It's so close to the name Long John Silver that not only do internal production documents sometimes refer to the character by using the Treasure Island spelling, but an article by The Signal accidentally spelled the character's name as Long John Silver. * Lovable Rogue: Sarah Huffington sees pirates in this way. * Offstage Villainy: Just about every deplorable act that any of the characters commit that is mentioned is done off-screen. * One-Note Cook: Maude can make flapjacks for Roger Goodman's crew and nothing else. It is stated that she's not that good at making them, though. * Pirate: Just about every character here is either one or is trying to be one. For the most part, they fall under the rogues variant. * Pirate Booty: Long John's life goal is to return to Treasure Island to dig up the treasure that he left there ten years ago. * Pirate Girl: Sarah Huffington wants to be this, mainly for the romance. Also, any pirate shown here that is female also naturally counts. * Pirate Parrot: Subverted with the character of Parrot. He has all of the behaviors and coloration of a pirate parrot, but he's actually a human who thinks he's a parrot. * The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Bluebeard and his crew are retired on Treasure Island, with his crew sending stories and art into the ocean to make anyone who finds said stories and art to think that he's the terror of the high seas. * Plunder: Parodied when Roger Goodman mentions that his crew raided three ships for treasure. Long John reminds him that all they got were crates of calico and barrels of cinnamon. In reality, these would actually have been useful in keeping the crew fed. * Shark Pool: Parodied with Captain Belvedere walking the plank. He thinks there are sharks in the water, but Sarah assures him that they are only dolphins. * Shout-Out: There are many in this zany comedy. ** The Bluebeard wanted poster and painting are designed to resemble Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner, respectively, from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. ** George suggests Capt'n Crunch as Roger Goodman's pirate name. Also, the name that is settled on, Captain Blood, alludes to the film of the same name. ** Long John Sliver is, naturally, a reference to Treasure Island. The island in this story also shares its name with the aforementioned book. ** The characters of Laverne, Shirley, Lucy, and Ethel reference both Laverne and Shirley and I Love Lucy. ** Dandy mentions that Lady Huffington's shopping list reads like War and Peace. * Spoiled Brat: The character of Roger Goodman. * Stockholm Syndrome: It's downplayed, but Emma Huffington starts to get along well with Roger Goodman's crew, even if they keep her alive for the cookies and to lure Sarah Huffington to Treasure Island. He husband doesn't fare as well, however. * Talk Like a Pirate: Long John and The Old Pirate play this trope straight because they are some of the only actual pirates in the film. Roger Goodman tries to emulate this, with hilarious results, Dandy has the accent slightly, and everyone else averts this trope. * The Triple: When Long John tries to drive away the Pirate Queen's crew (so they don't take his treasure for themselves), he directs them first to skull-shaped Skull Island, then to gopher-shaped Gopher Island, then finally to elephant-shaped...Treasure Island. * Walk the Plank: This is how Sarah Huffington disposes of Captain Belvedere. * Wooden Ships and Iron Men: This film is a parody of this trope. Trivia * Because the performance was not entirely filmed with just one cast, the film constantly changes between casts in the second act. * After the play ended, the set pieces were sent to the recycling center, despite talks of Bouquet Canyon Church reusing the pieces for their vacation bible school. * Because he is a professional stuntman, Connor Loveall was given the task of choreographing all of the play's sword fights. * The character of Koo Koo Macaw was not in the play. This character was added later to create a transition between the two casts. Gallery Cave Design.JPG|Concept art by Teresa Bermudez External Links * Official Web Page * Film on YouTube * Production Gallery on YouTube * Page on Pioneer Drama Service Website Category:Movies Category:Live Action Category:Play Category:2006 Category:Feature Films